Power Dressing: Fred Hervey

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Fred Hervey, 39, is managing director and co-head of UK private banking at Berenberg Bank, where he has worked for three years. He was previously with Barclays.

Suit by Dress 2 Kill

This is a lightweight blue wool suit with a weave in it. I buy almost all my suits from this company and a number of them are seven years old or more, so I know they last. This suit is about a year old. As I’m a private banker my suits are conservative but they’ll always have little touches of personality, such as the lining – which on this one is deep burgundy. But nothing crazy: I meet so many different sorts of people and you want to make everyone feel at ease. It shows respect to some and instils comfort in others: there’s a professionalism to people wearing suits.

I’m tall and I have long arms so I get shirts made to fit. Dress 2 Kill does a great service in a multitude of different cuts: bespoke without being super-expensive. I think people get put off by bespoke because they think they will have to remortgage their house but these are actually quite affordable.

This is blue and red silk and, now that I’m looking at it, I realise the pattern is letters; Hs and Qs. Hermès ties suit my style because they are discreet. I’m not very good at shopping at airports but I bought this in Zürich airport since I travel back and forth to our Swiss office. I insist on buying my own ties. My wife has tried to on occasion. We agree on almost everything apart from the choice of my ties.

These are square and sterling silver, each has a fingerprint of my two children and their names. To be honest, I wear these almost every day. They were given to me for Father's day last year. They remind me to go home more often.

For someone who doesn’t like shopping in airports, it’s funny I have two things on from an airport. I got this in Hong Kong airport before I joined Berenberg as a “good luck in your new job” present from my wife. I have a number of watches but this is my favourite. It’s a large black-faced watch with traditional leather straps. The brand is not one of those instantly recognisable ones. People who know watches would recognise it but otherwise it’s not well known, and I quite like that, and they make a nice product. I’m always sort of slightly looking out for a watch.

These are simple, classic black lace-ups. Harrys is another brand I really like. They are traditional and handmade but have a technical aspect. These have injected rubber soles, which means my feet are always dry. It is a full leather sole but this weird injecting thing they’ve done works well living in London. This pair is quite new but I have three or four pairs of their shoes now.